World

U.S. To Strengthen Taiwan Ties?

February 1, 2000 / 4:26 PM EST / AP

The House gave strong bipartisan support Tuesday to legislation to expand military relations with Taiwan. The Clinton administration, threatening a veto, said the bill would "seriously diminish Taiwan's security" and could undermine stability in Asia.

The measure was approved 341 to 70 in the Republican-led chamber, with the administration's Democratic allies putting up only token opposition.

The bill goes next to the Senate, where leaders expressed caution.

Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., cited long-standing support for the democratic government of Taiwan. But he cautioned he didn't want to further complicate already tense relations between the mainland and the island. "We should proceed with due diligence," Lott said.

China regards Taiwan as a renegade province.

Sponsors portrayed the bill as a reaction to a recent increase in tensions between China and the island, and the reported buildup of China's missile arsenal along the Taiwan Strait.

"If we love freedom, we must protect democratic Taiwan," said House Majority Leader Dick Armey, R-Texas.

The bill would end a U.S. prohibition against military exchanges with the Taiwanese military.

Although less hard-edged than an earlier version, which would have authorized the sale to Taiwan of specific weapons systems including a ballistic missile defense, the bill has drawn sharp condemnation from China.

It also drew some opposition from those in Congress seeking to improve ties with Beijing, who see it as a potential barrier to a vote later this year on granting China permanent trade benefits.

"This legislation will not add one single missile to Taiwan's defense capability and it will not take away one single missile from China's," said Rep. Tom Lantos, D-Calif., an opponent.

But opposition was scattered and many Democrats joined with Republicans in calling it symbolically important. "A clear statement from the United States about Taiwan's right to continue its political operations is critical for the whole world," said Rep. Sam Gejdenson of Connecticut, senior Democrat on the House International Relations Committee.

In an unsigned statement, the White House Office of Management and Budget said that, if the Taiwan military bill were sent to President Clinton in its present form, "his senior advisers would recommend that it be vetoed."

"This bill would mandate a number of new security and military arrangements with Taiwan that could create dangerous, false and inaccurate expectations on both sides of the Taiwan Strait," said the statement.

The administration statement followed denunciation of the bill by China.

"We strongly urge the U.S. government to take effective measures to prevent this act from being adopted in the Congress and to prevent it from becoming law," Chinese Embassy spokesman Yu Shuning said.

Its passage "wll bring about serious damage" to U.S.-Chinese relations, Yu said. He suggested it would undermine the U.S. commitment to recognize only one China.

"As everybody knows, throughout our relationship with the U.S., the Taiwan issue has been the most sensitive," Yu told reporters at the Chinese Embassy on Monday.

But the bill, watered down from an earlier version that would have authorized sales of specific weapons systems, has bipartisan support and its passage was viewed as likely.

The bill would require the defense secretary to establish direct communication with military forces in Taiwan, increase training operations, allow more Taiwanese military officials to attend U.S. military academies and require annual Pentagon reports on threats to Taiwan's security.

"There is a growing threat to peace across the Taiwan Strait: the massive, ongoing military buildup that the People's Republic of China is openly directing against Democratic Taiwan," asserted Rep. Christopher Cox, R-Calif., chairman of the House Republican Policy Committee.

"In the absence of presidential leadership, Congress must act now to strengthen communications between U.S. and Taiwan military forces, rebuild deterrence and head off a new crisis in the Taiwan Strait," Cox said in a briefing paper on the bill.

Cox is the author of a 1999 congressional report that alleged widespread Chinese nuclear espionage and documented years of liberalized U.S. technology transfers to Beijing.

Opponents have portrayed the "Taiwan Security Enhancement Act" as a needlessly provocative slap at China at a time when the Clinton administration is seeking to win support for a bill to grant China permanent normal trade relations.

The China trade bill, expected to be debated this spring or early summer, would accompany China's expected entry into the 135-nation World Trade Organization.